Please Stay
by Kandee3
Summary: Ichiruki werewolf one-shot! Ichigo and Rukia moved in together months ago and have been a couple for just over two years. For some reason, Ichigo keeps secretly leaving the house, and Rukia is beginning to get irritated. What will happen when Ichigo tries to leave, but Rukia doesn't let him?


**hello, world! It's Kandee3 here with an Ichiruki fic :) this is my first ichiruki fic, but definitely not my last. I'm REALLY new on this site, so no flames plz! Review away, because I love to hear all your comments! oh and as a writer I love to read constructive criticism, so edit away! Anyway, Ichiruki is pretty much my OTP and I hope this does them justice (: read away!**

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They'd been together for just over two years now. Sure, they'd had their ups and downs just like everyone else. They got into fights, they made up, but most of all, they loved each other.

That's what Rukia liked to believe. Somewhere deep inside a voice had been recently awakened. A voice that pestered her constantly. Why did he leave at least once a month? What ever happened to the love they had in the beginning? Why did she wake up to find Ichigo gone?

They had moved in together eight months ago. The first month he left twice, quickly mumbling a lame excuse before exiting into the crisp fall night. The next month she awoke to him missing. Several times. It only had gotten worse from there. He didn't even make up excuses anymore. They seemed to grow farther and farther apart as each day went by.

Rukia sat in her chappy sweatpants after a long days work, sighing deeply. She checked the clock. 5:17. Ichigo should be on his way home now. She drummed her fingers against the pleather couch, biting her lip nervously.

Her head poked up as she heard a car pull up into the driveway. Footsteps made their way to the door. She heard Ichigo, or at least she assumed it to be Ichigo, fumble with his keys until he found the right one, then unlocked and opened the door. He didn't bother to even look at her as he hung up his keys and trudged to their bedroom, scowl very apparent. She took a shaky breath.

Wait, why was her breath shaky? Was she really truly freaked out by Ichigo? No. Ichigo didn't scare her. Ichigo never scared her. Nervous. That's the word she had been looking for.

Rukia came to her feet and began making her way to the bedroom. The soft carpet formed to her feet with each step, letting out little creaking noises. Down the halls were pictures of their life together; even ones before they got together. The picture right next to the entrance of their room, though, was the most precious to her.

They had taken a trip to the beach with Orihime, Uyru, Chad, Tatsuki, Renji, Toshiro and Matsumoto the summer Ichigo and her had gotten together. The started their journey at five in the morning, much to Tatsuki's and Renji's disapproval, and drove for two hours to get to the warm, public beach. Considering it was a Tuesday, there weren't as many tourists walking the boardwalk or through the sand, so they got to enjoy their stay. Rukia loved that trip. She remembered Toshiro staying under the shelter of a roofed stand, sipping on ice-cold lemonade as Rangiku tortured him with her complaints. Renji got preoccupied with a grumpy shop owner bullying him about his red hair, and Orihime finally left their side when she found a new interesting food joint. Uryu followed, mumbling something about keeping an eye on her. Rukia dragged Ichigo to the beach. Ichigo had been chasing her because she stole his wallet when he caught her, wrapping her petite frame into his massive arms. Uryu was making his way out of the food stand before Orihime shoved other concoctions down his throat when he saw them. He snapped the picture to ultimately torment Ichigo, but Rukia snatched the picture from Ichigo before he could rip it to shreds.

She tore her eyes away from the picture, entering their room. Ichigo opened their dresser, pulled out a pair of pants, then slammed it shut. His spiky hair was messier than usual, as if he had been nervously running his fingers through it.

"Where are you going?"She asked timidly. Timidly? No, fretfully, she decided.

Rukia sat on the edge of the bed, awaiting the answer. She fumbled with a loose string from the cream-colored comforter. The basic quilted comforter marked where they used to lay together. Now the king-sized bed was usually occupied by one girl. Each night the bed seemed to swallow her whole, reminding her of her loneliness. After a few more seconds of wait, she realized he wasn't going to answer her question.

The raven-haired girl reached out and touched his arm to get his attention. He violently shoved it away.

"It doesn't matter, Rukia,"He snapped,"Just go watch your stupid chappy show or something."

She was taken aback. Sure, they argued and fought a lot. More than a lot. But he had only used that harsh of a tone with her a few was in a bad mood, and despite her want to beat it out if him, she kept her voice calm.

"Ichigo, is there something going on that you need to tell me?"She tried again.

He groaned in annoyance,"Why are you so nosy?! I never ask you where you're going! I never bug you about why you want to randomly stay the night somewhere else, do I?"

That was it. She tried to play nice. She tried to be kind and loving. Ichigo was apparently just too stupid to see that without getting beaten on the head a few times.

Rukia shoved him,"That's because I never go anywhere! I'm always right here, Ichigo, but you don't even care!"

Suddenly his demeanor became animalistic. His eyes had turned more of a yellowish tone, if that was possible, and he roughly grabbed her by her wrist and threw her onto the bed. He stood stationary, a deep growl sounding from his throat.

Suddenly it just stopped. He blinked, as if coming to realization to what he did. A flash of fear set across his face and he began to pack even faster. He seemingly sprinted to the door, racing down the hall and into the living room. Rukia chased after him, hopping in front of the door before he could leave.

"Move,"He mumbled, a harsh look plastered across his face.

Unfortunately Ichigo didn't scare her,"No."

"I said-"

"Ichigo what is going on?!"Rukia interrupted, distress leaking from her voice,"Why are you leaving me all the time? You always do this to me and I don't know what I'm doing that's making you so mad!"Ichigo reached for the doorknob, but Rukia grabbed his wrist,"Please,"She pleaded,"Just stay home. With me. I want to be with you just like we used to be."

Hurt spread across his face,"Rukia, I really can't."

For once she saw that emotion. For once she noticed he really did want to stay. In those amber eyes held such heart-wrenching guilt and pain she almost wanted to feel bad for him. Still, her exigency to understand what was going on between them made her stop short.

"Why? Are you seeing someone else? Is that what it is? Just for once stay with me. Here. At OUR house. Ichigo, I love you."

His hand reached out and caressed her cheek in longing. Rukia leaned into it, reminiscing old memories of how they used to be. She had almost forgotten what his hand had felt like. Rukia leaned into his hand, and he took a step closer. For a moment, just that mere second, she really could see all of the memories of their past come back to life. She could really feel that spark they used to have together.

Suddenly her cheek stung. She felt something wet began to drip down, so she gingerly touched the area with the tip of her finger. Her eyes grew wide as she looked down to her hand to find liquid crimson. She looked up to Ichigo in shock.

Ichigo panicked, pushing her aside and rushing out the door without another word. She took deep breaths, leaning against the door for support. After a few seconds, the pain wasn't all that terrible. She suddenly had a thought.

She barely noticed the blood trickling down her neck as she raced after him. How was he running so fast? She looked back, realizing she couldn't even see their neighborhood anymore. Where was he going? After a few harsh turns, he made a detour into the dark forest, and Rukia followed.

She took a quick breath, then began sprinting after the speck of orange locks again. A blackberry branch scraped across her leg, thorns digging into the skin. She surged forward. A snake hissed when she stepped on it. She pushed on. Nothing would stop her. She needed to know where Ichigo was going and why.

The canopy covered up most of the sun's rays. Dark, eery voices seemed to whisper to her through the wind. Splenetic, intimidating faces grimaced at her through the bark. She stopped to take a breather, looking at her surroundings. A branch with an intricate design that looked similar to a Chappy bunny laid on the ground. The same branch she had seen a mile ago.

Great, she thought, now I'm lost.

A rustling of some branches sounded from the right. She turned, watching, waiting. This time she actually saw the branches move.

Slowly, she backed away into a small clearing. For some reason she felt that if she valued her life, she urgently needed to get as far away from whatever that was as possible. All she wanted was to find Ichigo and get home.

The dark clearing held not a ray of sunshine. The branches curved into finger-like figures that seemed to reach out for her. Oh, how she wished she would've brought her sword. Even her dagger would've been helpful.

Growling mixed with laughter sounded all around her, surrounding Rukia. Hundreds of voices. She realized this was a trap. Whatever these things were, they were getting exactly what they wanted. Her.

A huge figure leaped out from the brush. A mammoth-sized monster. It stood on two legs, smiling darkly. The thing resembled a wolf, but had eyes much too intelligent. His fur was a dark coffee color. The creature seemed too aggressive to be human, but most definitely smart enough. Something much like the stories she heard as a child.

But those were just stories, she tried to convince herself, this must be a dream.

The sound of claws scratching through the dull brush sent shivers down her spine.

A very realistic dream, she thought as her heart raced within her chest. The biggest of the "wolves" pounced on her. Rukia pushed, shoved and fought for her life. Two more hopped into the fight. She was overwhelmed with the claws slashing and jaws snapping.

The biggest one pinned her down while fighting off the other two who tried to take his place. She kicked the monster, attempting to get away, but it's vice-like grip deemed it impossible. Her life seemed to flash by as a concoction of blood and saliva dripped onto her forehead. The thick, dense liquid slid down slowly.

What am I gonna do? Her heart, in it's last moments, seemed to drum against her sternum so hard and hypersonic she thought she would implode.

"Ichigo!"She screamed, tears streaming down her horror-stricken face.

Just then, a roar louder and more powerful than a lion sounded across the whole clearing. A creature at least triple the size of the first monster that had jumped her stood upon the highest ground in the clearing, a cliff-looking rock that overlooked the area. The two smaller ones backed away into the crowd nervously. The bigger one, Rukia decided he looked like a Jack, stood his ground above you, snarling.

"I hungry,"The creature atop the hill growled, his voice coming through staticky, as if through a radio. If anything, it was more of a howl than a word,"I eat."

"No!"Jack yelled from above her,"I win girl, I eat!"

The one atop the hill mustered something similar laugher. He leaped down from his place at the top of the ridge, prowling towards them. He then stood on two legs again, taunting the "Jack" figure with his enormous size.

Jack growled. Rukia hyperventilated, watching the two figures above her. She honestly didn't know which one to root for. Both would rip her to shreds. Maybe she could sneak away while they fought. Slowly, she began to slide herself across the ground, summoning all the energy she had left.

The bigger figure slashed it's fangs in attempt to intimidate Jack. He made an effort to slash at the enormous beast, but the arm that had tried with was swiftly and gruesomely detached from its socket. Rukia froze in shock. Jack whimpered for less than a second before the monster ripped his head from his body.

"I hungry,"He repeated,"I eat!"

Many whimpered and ran in a skittish frenzy away from the wolf. The huge wolf-looking barbarian roared, his voice echoing through the woods. The few that stayed were soon gnawed to bloodied bits of matted fur and detached limbs.

When the creature was finished, it made it's way towards Rukia. Rivulets of blood dripped down his muzzle and paws. His golden fur was a wild mess. After a few steps on four legs he began to run full-speed towards her. Rukia's eyes grew wide as she watched it lumber ahead, eyes determined and set for the kill. She clawed at the ground, a single tear falling from her face as she watched in horror.

The thing latched onto her shoulders, slamming her against a rock. It's hot breath steamed against her cheek. Drool drizzled down his chin as he examined her. She forced herself to look into it's eyes. An intense, yellowish amber pair of pupils stated right back at her. She recognized those eyes. Animalistic, yet enticing. Confusing, yet not. So full of emotion, those eyes were, but it seemed as if they were glazed over with anguish. Her eyes widened upon realization.

"Ichigo?"She whimpered.

Something in the monster's eyes faltered, as if awakened by the sound of that name. It stared for a moment. The satanic wolf snorted in confusion. Or was it approval? She wasn't sure.

"Ru-"He tried, voice almost coming out as two voices: Ichigo and the monster,"Ru... Kia?"

She gasped. The animal released it's claws from within her shoulders, and she fell to the ground with a thud. It awaited her move. Those eyes pierced through her very soul. Despite the blood pouring out of the gashes in her shoulders, she stood up, running her hands through the monster's mane.

"Oh, Ichigo,"She said worriedly,"Oh my god."

She kept repeating his name over and over, ruffling his fur and playing with his ears. His eyes softened a little. Slightly, he began to wag his tail in approval. His fur was terrifically soft, in spite of it's tangled and crazy appearance.

"R-ukia,"He tried again, nuzzling against her cheek.

She looked up at the big creature in front of her, smiling. Rukia wrapped her arms around his gigantic neck, barely getting three quarters of the way around. Slowly, ever so slowly, he began to shrink. His mammoth body condensed, each muscle contorting and retracting to become it's regular size.

When Rukia looked down, she saw a man with dirty, tousled orange hair on his knees. His arms hung loose around her waist. Ichigo could hear her heart beat within her chest, could feel each breath she took. No one had ever heard of being able to control the beast. It was thought to be impossible. And yet, here she was, turning him back to normal, defeating his worst fears. He took a deep breath, sensing the aching of his muscles and joints.

"I love you, Rukia."

She smiled wearily, stroking his hair,"I know."


End file.
